Search Engine Optimization is still a powerful tool for getting great traffic to your site. But now a days you can’t rely only on quality content, you also need a powerful visual to grab visitors interest. As internet emerges out as a great tool for conveying information to millions of people worldwide, it has become a challenge on how you can effectively communicate with the visitors of your content (website), how can you make your content unique and more attractive?

This is where infographics comes into the picture. Infographics or information graphics are visual representation of information, data or knowledge. It is a mixture of design, text and research analysis. It is an important tool in understanding the complex information more precisely.

As the saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words”. This is especially true when someone has to quickly read and understand. Consider the example of a person driving on the road can be benefitted more from pictorial signs as opposed to signs with a lot of text.

To create a successful infographics on any topic, your main aim should be simplicity i.e. to spread your point across in a quick and easy to understand way. You should be creative, produce rich graphics and also make use of metaphors. Moreover, one must use real life situations for comparison like: there are more stars in the universe than the amount of sand on earth!

Lets have a look at some reasons that makes infographics more important:-

1) Infographics is simple:- This technique is very simple and time effective as we just need to figure out the basic points of any article that needs to be highlighted and replace them with some graphics and designs.

2) Infographics is a key technique to grab the attention:- It’s common to all of us that we like graphics much more than the long written text. So, infographics will be definitely helpful in order to grab the attention of the visitors of your website.

3) Increase in site traffic:- Site traffic is one of the most important factor for any website. By using this technique, the chance of sharing and getting likes on social media platforms increases and it will result in increasing back links which in turn increases the site traffic.

The only barrier for infographics is to develop topics and ideas in a simplified, attractive and dynamic way. Infographics must be created without causing misinterpretations, so choice of colour or shape must be appropriate for particular fact. There are various tools and platforms emerging that can help you creating them easier. So, start working on infographics as soon as possible and attract visitors to your website.

We all prefer graphical representations to long textual facts and figures. The reason being that they are more interesting and give a consolidated glimpse of the data which can be compared easily. Even statistics have proven that 40% of the audience respond better to visual representations in comparison to text based information. This may be attributed to the fact that the human brain processes visuals 60,000 times faster than text. Infographics are being shared over social media and are getting good responses from the users. While many may believe that the use of infographics is fairly new, it is safe to say that similar representations have been in existence since ages. However the problem with infographics is that the more they are used, the more chances exist for them to become so common that they may lose popularity with the masses and eventually resulting in weakened marketing efforts. The only way to ensure effective use of infographics is to constantly innovate and understand the finer nuances associated with visual representation of complex or lengthy data.

The Good:

The most alluring aspect of infographics is the visual appeal and simplicity of presentation. While becoming overly creative may seem to be a good strategic approach, most users prefer simple presentations that have clarity and can easily be understood for comparison.

Considering the benefits of infographics in online marketing, it aids the SEO functions by earning incoming links in accordance with subsequent increase in traction.

Being a visual representation, the inclusion of the brand’s logo would go a long way in promoting and sustaining market position for the business. However this requires proper placement of the logo within the acceptable confines of premium positioning in the infographic.

Another benefit pertains to the portrayal of one’s expertise which is achieved by making an effective comparison of internal data with data from the applicable industry, thereby providing a comprehensive portrayal of well researched data.

The Bad:

Infographics that are used solely for the purpose of increasing “linkbaits” have often resulted in poorly executed efforts. It is due to such poorly executed content that infographics having immense potential are not given due consideration.

In keeping with the amount of research required and the manner in which it is presented to the customers, infographics may be an expensive undertaking for small businesses. The costs incurred are high only when extremely striking infographics are to be made. Simple representations can be made at lower costs.

It is not uncommon for unrealistic expectations to be kept from infographics wherein the purpose tends to become focused on making the content viral rather than emphasizing on proper content creation with backed up facts and statistics to prove its worth. It is this expectation which at times has been known to cause more harm than good.

While it is feasible to outsource data for statistical representation, its use may not reflect the actual points of concern for the customers. In order to manage this, it is better to conduct research by identifying key points that have direct impact on the business as well as the consumers.

The New Perspective:

Simplicity shall always hold priority for creating impressive infographics. Proof of this may be seen in the infographic created by Dell which utilized a yes / no based flowchart for captivating the interests of programmers who are familiar with this type of representation. This helped the company to connect with its audience and potential customers. Current trends in infographics indicate the those with longer layouts with vertical flow of data would be successful in retaining their effectiveness in communicating the information to the audience. While the best practices for infographics may have possible differing aspects, the need for incorporating innovative methods to captivate audiences has gained paramount significance especially in light of the widespread use of infographics which poses the risk of obsoletion.

The infographic designs that are presented currently mainly comprise of static graphical representation of data that is provided in interesting ways to the audience. However, there is a dire need for improving the presentation methods for achieving the next level of infographics. One such possible approach would be to use Parallax Scrolling which is the key transition for conventional designs to be presented as interactive web pages. The reason behind its potential effectiveness lies in the fact that the images in the foreground move either slowly or independently in comparison to the images in the background. This results in an interactive experience for the user wherein the content needs to be scrolled or moved in order to see further information.

Some of the benefits of using this relatively new approach include enhanced interaction, better user retention, faster captivating rates, and increased sharing of content. This is really crucial in driving more traffic to the intended web pages. Another benefit of using parallax scrolling pertains to the fact that the text can be made to crawl. This facility enables infographics to be positioned at the bottom of the layout and transcribing it accordingly. Additionally, internal links from the content itself may be provided which is practically better than transcribing the same.

From the marketing perspective, parallax scrolling enables infographic to be re-purposed easily. This results in the infographic being submitted to dedicated directories, online document sharing platforms and creation of micro-blogs, There is even the possibility of these infographics being turned into video presentations if the content and its purpose permits it. The question about parallax scrolling becoming the infographic template of the future still remains unanswered but possibilities are constrained only by the limits of one’s creativity.

Information graphics are widespread in newspapers, presentations and on the Internet. Infographics (a shortened version of the term) are diverse types of visuals that include charts, maps, diagrams, data visualizations and technical, instructional and scientific explanations. What they have in common is that they are visual representations of information, data or knowledge.They are valuable because the world is complex and it’s difficult to quickly understand dense information.

Both professionals and amateurs produce infographics, but many of these visuals aren’t compelling for a variety of reasons. In fact, many amateurish infographics don’t offer anything new. They are no more than a group of words and pictures arranged logically on the screen or page. Here are three common mistakes designers make when creating infographics.

Mistake #1: The Graphic Does Not Provide a New of Thinking

Information graphics should use visual language to provide a new way of understanding concepts, ideas and data. But some infographics don’t enable users to see the information in a new way. Rather, they implement the infographic using a conventional and ordinary approach.

The Fix: Think deeply about the design. Because our brains are wired for pictures, graphics are understood differently than text alone. Take advantage of this by ensuring your infographic provides data or information in a way that enables viewers to perceive new relationships, new analysis and new interpretations.

Mistake #2: The Information is Not Well-organized

A primary aspect of an effective information graphic is its organization, expressed through visual structure. But some infographics seem to be randomly organized, missing the opportunity to present information with clarity.

The Fix: There are a few fixes for poor visual organization. One is to create a visual hierarchy so the eye lands on the most important information first. Another approach is to chunk the information into segments, when possible. According to cognitive research, we can only hold about four or five perceptual units in working memory at one time. When information is organized into small bits, it is easier to process.

Mistake #3: The Graphic Doesn’t Work on Multiple Levels

Information graphics should allow viewers to understand the topic at both a high-level and detailed-level. But many information graphics are flat and don’t provide several views of the content.

The Fix: Identify ways to depict the visual information so viewers can immediately get the overview of what it’s all about. In addition, provide a way for viewers to delve into the topic or data so they can get detailed information as well.

Information graphics are flooding the Internet and as a result, many untrained in this art form are producing them. Take the time to get the basic design skills for creating compelling infographics and avoid the mistakes discussed here.